300-Year-Old Violin Signed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono Goes to Auction

The instrument was signed after its owner played "Yesterday" to Lennon and Oko in a hotel restaurant

A J. N. Lambert violin dating from 1700 that was signed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono has been listed for sale on the Dutch auction platform Catawiki.

The Lennon and Ono signed the instrument after its owner, the Spanish violinist and collector Jose Eugenio Sanz Sampedro, encountered the pair in a hotel restaurant. After playing them a version of the Beatles hit "Yesterday," he asked them to add their names to the back of the violin.

Sampedro purchased the violin in 1965 and performed in an orchestra at the Hotel Castillo Son Vida in Palma de Mallorca from 1970 to 1981.

A number of other signatures can also be found on the body of the instrument, including those of the German conductor James Last, and the Spanish statesman Carlos Arias Navarro — who was Spain's Head of Government during the Franco dictatorship.

The bidding for the instrument opened at €35,000, and the reserve has not yet been met.

You can view the auction here.